


Freedom of interpretation

by Yoite



Category: Red Dwarf RPF
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, Love/Hate, M/M, My First Work in This Fandom, Two Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-14
Updated: 2018-01-14
Packaged: 2019-03-04 20:47:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13372773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yoite/pseuds/Yoite
Summary: This is a two shot based around Chris's and Craig's hate-turns-love relationship. The two chapters are really different mood wise, so it's more a double one-shot than a coherent story. My first work in this fandom, so please forgive the ooc-ness.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This chapter is set during the filming of S3.
> 
> This is inspired by something Bobby said in a panel, though I have changed the context to suit my needs.
> 
> Thank you to my favourite person Oldironballs for her invaluable help with this pairing.

When half a minute of angry knocking had brought no results Chris decided that enough was enough and opened the damn door. He was sincerely hoping not to barge in on Craig sitting there in his underwear, or naked, or worse. For some reason, the thought filled him with an emotion he chose to interpret as acute annoyance.

Thankfully, his fears were unfounded. In fact, for the first few seconds Chris could barely see anything at all courtesy of the thick cigarette smoke that filled the trailer. Then he managed to make out his unlikely colleague sitting in a chair with his feet up on the desk and a set of huge headphones covering his ears. Craig's eyes were closed as he was rhythmically whipping his head to what Chris assumed was some kind of shouty music.

He coughed, fanning himself with the papers in his hand in the futile hope of dissipating the fumes. Surprisingly, it caught the other man's attention as Craig jumped a little in his seat, opened his eyes and quickly removed the headphones. For a brief moment his face looked strangely helpless before it took on its usual phlegmatic expression.

"What do you want?"

"Nothing", Chris scoffed, feeling his risk of dying from lung cancer rise with every second spent in this pigsty. "You left your script in the 'landing bay'."

He approached, holding the sheets between two fingers and dropping them on the desk with considerable disgust.

"Not that I would dare to hope you'd be working on your lines. And I don't even want to know what you've spilled on it. Ugh."

Craig rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, whatever, thanks for dropping by, now don't let me stop you from getting back to your train magazines or something."

"Or something", Chris grumbled under his breath.

He already had his hand on the door knob when something made him stop and turn back around, something he chose to interpret as nothing but polite concern on his part.

Craig, who was about to return the headphones to his ears, stared at him with surprise and irritation.

"Anything else, man?"

"Why are you doing this?"

"What, trying to relax on my break from you?"

"No, **this** ", Chris made a sweeping gesture through the smog that enveloped an array of empty beer cans strewn across the floor. "Have you, I don't know, tried **not** to poison yourself for a change? It's getting worse with you every series. We only have a couple more days left to shoot, get a hold of yourself."

"I guess not everyone can be as perfect as you", Craig shrugged, putting, maybe, a little too much stress on the word 'perfect', which Chris chose to interpret as sarcasm. "Maybe if you're lucky I will have snuffed it by series four and they'll replace me with someone who keeps his scripts in a nice little folder, yeah?"

The older man grimaced at this.

"Don't be stupid."

"Me, stupid?" Craig flashed him his famous David Lister grin, one of the reasons why his screen character was so annoyingly charming even though, as far as Chris was concerned, Lister should have been nothing but an unlikeable, lazy slob. "I'm not the one wearing my stupid costume to rehearsals."

"So? It helps me get into character", Chris mumbled, suddenly flustered as Craig was now shamelessly mustering him from top to bottom with what Chris chose to interpret as contempt.

In fact, it made him feel so flustered he momentarily lost control and allowed something that had been on his mind for a while but that he had promised himself to never, ever mention to burst of his mouth.

"You didn't seem to think my costume was stupid when you told Bobby that.. I looked good in it!"

Actually, the exact descriptor Robert had quoted was 'gorgeous', but Chris could not bring himself to say it. It seemed like such a completely un-Craig-like thing to come out with. Chris had managed to convince himself that Bobby was just pulling his leg, but judging by the redness that was now creeping over Craig's face it had to be the truth.

"Er, I mean", he quickly backtracked, looking down at his own uniform to avoid the younger man's shocked stare. "I actually preferred my series one costume, I don't know why they decided to -"

"You really don't get it, do you?"

All of a sudden, Craig was up on his feet and only a couple of inches away, angrily gesticulating in his face. Chris swallowed hard.

"You're so fucking professional, aren't you? You don't get why I drink myself into oblivion every night, because that's the only way I can cope with -"

He went silent, but his eyes kept talking a whole novel's worth, and what they said made Chris's throat tighten and produce an utterly unscripted little sound, which had never happened to him before.

"Ah, forget it!"

Abruptly, Craig slumped back into the chair and forced the headphones over his ears.

"Will try my best", Chris wheezed as he turned on his heels and dashed out of the trailer in a panic he had no idea how to interpret.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is set during the filming of S7 and is much more light-hearted.

Ed Bye shook his head as his gaze shifted from one of his leading men to the other. Well, this was awkward.

"So, to summarise, you both came to me today within half an hour of each other, suggesting that it would be best to leave the kissing scene out of the rehearsals because you have 'a sore throat'?"

"Just don't want to pass on me virus, yeah?" Craig stubbornly scuffed at the floor with one foot.

"Hm. I thought you guys were getting on well these days?"

"Oh yes, of course", a slightly pink Chris was quick to reassure him.

It was true. More than ten years had passed since they first started filming Red Dwarf and they had both grown older and wiser. These days, Craig managed to turn up to rehearsals sober and on time most days, and Chris had grown increasingly fond of his quick wit and natural performance talent, rather than being jealous of his younger co-star. They started having lunch together most days when they were shooting, sometimes dinner, and Chris even went to several of Craig's poetry readings during their long filming breaks. He really missed having him around. And still, the thought of kissing Craig repeatedly in front of the entire crew made him more than a little anxious. Maybe it was because, despite his promise, he had never forgotten that incident in Craig's trailer, the one they had never talked about again..

"I mean, it's not like anyone expects you to tongue each other - though I suspect that would make some fans pretty happy - but if you're both too uncomfortable we can always just change it to a hug, or -"

"Oh no, no, no -", a very red Chris protested with an eagerness that earned him a cocked eyebrow from his colleague. "There's no need to change the script, it makes so much sense in the context of -"

"Well then", Ed cut him off. He really wanted to get back to his lunch, and why was there always so much drama with these two? "Whatever it is, sort it out between you two, mkay?"

"Yep."

"Okay, boss."

Once the two actors had scurried out of the director's office Chris quickly caught up with his younger colleague and put a nervous hand on his shoulder as they walked.

"Heh, that was a bit.. odd, right?"

Craig responded with a profound silence.

"Look, you can't be angry with me if you were asking about the exact same thing!"

"Yeah, but I only did it so you don't have to be all weirded out, man, I thought you'd be too stuck up to say it!"

"Me too! I mean, I don't mind.. this at all, I just didn't want **you** to feel uncomfortable, and besides, I do actually -"

He was rudely interrupted as Craig suddenly grabbed his sleeve and pulled him through one of the doors they were passing.

"Wait, wha-"

Once again Chris wasn't given the opportunity to finish his line as he was pressed into a wall in between two racks of sparkling suit jackets, though not too hard. The dressing room was dimly lit, but he could just about make out Craig's cheeky face hovering close to his own. All of a sudden, he felt weak at the knees.

"You think I'm uncomfortable?"

"Er, standing between all these designer clothes? Probably.."

"To kiss you?"

"Uh.."

"Let's see.."

"Wait, I actually meant to tell you -"

Chris found all of his thoughts dissipating into complete irrelevance when Craig's mouth touched his own for the first time. It was not at all how he would have expected Craig - or Lister - to kiss, which might or might not have been a topic he had secretly pondered over from time to time. He would have expected it to be rough and forceful and a little sloppy, but this kiss was soft and warm, almost shy, a word that Chris would not have thought of placing anywhere in the vicinity of his younger colleague. There was a gentle hand playing with his curls, sending shivers down his spine as Craig was slowly sucking on his lips. Chris was pretty sure this lasted longer than a standard screen smooch, and still, he gave a little sigh when it ended, though Craig's hand remained in his hair.

"See? **I'm** not uncomfortable.."

"Wachlahahahemmm", Chris cleared his throat with a muddled noise a GELF would have been proud of. "Well then.. uh.. maybe we should go ahead with rehearsals after all..?"

Craig's grin tasted of peppermint when it met Chris's lips once again, and this time the older man dared to lean into it, cautiously cupping Craig's plump cheek with his hand, though neither of the men seemed to want to deepen the kiss. It was Chris who pulled away first this time as he was starting to feel a little light-headed. All the colourful suits made the whole room sparkle and glitter around them.

".. what I meant to tell you though.. I do have a sore throat."

".. totally worth it."

A few hours later, Ed frowned and walked over to Danny who was staring in fascination at the scene unfolding in front of them, just like everyone on set.

"Say, did I not shout 'cut'?"

"Yes, I believe you did, twice!"

"Hm. Maybe we'll need to get a hosepipe to separate these two."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed, reviews are always welcome.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, and apologies for any awkward English, as it's only my third language.


End file.
